Salvaging Humanity
by Crazy Hyper Active Nyx
Summary: An OC story that is going to also be FF7, it will be filled with action, despair, and such....I hope
1. Chapter 1

C-H-A-N: okay this story is based off an idea my friend and I had, because we are just that cool. I realize that my spelling and grammar leave a lot to be desired though, but that is why my friend is editing it for me, and she is an amazing writer, at least in my opinion, and is way better than myself at writing. I'll shut up and let you read this story now, if you still want to. Also this story is mainly OC's so if that's not anything you like to leave go ahead and leave. Also the first few chapters have nothing to do with Final Fantasy 7, but I would like for people to have insight on my characters first, so this is still going to be a FF7 story, so don't worry. Oh and here are the links to how the characters look in this story.

12 year old Sarah: .com/albums/vv269/Green-eyed-alien/?action=view¤t;=1187537247_&newest=1

12 year old Madeline: .com/albums/vv269/Green-eyed-alien/?action=view¤t;=&newest=1

16 year old Sarah: .com/albums/vv269/Green-eyed-alien/?action=view¤t;=&newest=1

16 year old Madeline: .com/albums/vv269/Green-eyed-alien/?action=view¤t;=anime_&newest=1

22 year old Sarah: .com/albums/vv269/Green-eyed-alien/?action=view¤t;=&newest=1

22 year old Madeline: .com/albums/vv269/Green-eyed-alien/?action=view¤t;=1199044844_&newest=1

and seeing as i didn't put this in, here is the link to my friends account, who is not only helping me edit/write this story she is writing Madeline's POV so here is the link, if you like this story go read the other POV: .net/u/1954989/ARTEMIS13_MAXIMUS

_**Intro**_

How in the world did I end up in this situation? This question seems to come up on every mission I go on lately. Every time I try to think clearly about my future, to do my work as I should, that question returns to haunt me: How did I get here? How did all of this happen? Hmm curious now are you my _**dear**_ listeners. Well I guess first I should tell you a little bit about myself and how I managed to get stuck in this situation in the first place. Fourteen years, of training, of hunting and this is the first time the account of my life, and that of my partner's will be set down. Maybe someday, after all this is resolved and ended, someone will return to read this, and they will know what we have sacrificed, what we lost, and what we did. I'm writing this so our actions may live on, and that our story will never be lost. To start with, my name is Sarah, yes quite the normal boring name I know, but it seems to fit me quite well at least according to my partner. My partner's name is Madeline, though since right after we first met I gave her the nickname of Mads, because: first off she is completely insane, and secondly it is much easier to spell and to say, at least in my opinion. My looks are quite normal at first glance, I have short ear-length white hair, stunning red eyes which are my favorite part about myself, slim-rimmed glasses that I hardly wear, a small but average enough chest, and I stand around five foot seven inches. Where as my partner has dirty blonde hair the goes down to her shoulders, beautiful blue eyes, like me she has glasses and she also refuses to wear them, she has a slightly larger chest than I have, and she stands at around five feet six inches which constantly annoys her since I am slightly taller. To start from the very beginning, the two of us have been really close friends since late elementary school; we even started to become part of each other's family. Those childhood days were some of the happiest we would know. Because we were such close friends it only made sense that we would become partners later on in life. No, not in the meaning that we were a couple, even though we act like it at times, but in the sense that we became business partners. Now what business you might ask? Many people have given many different names to what our business is, but I will leave it to you to decide on what to call our business after I tell you our stories. Though before I try to figure out where to start this story, which is by no means a life-account, I should explain the relationship between Madeline and me in a little more detail. Like I said before, we met in the later years of our elementary schooling years, but we did not go to what most people would consider school. We went to a school that trained us how to fight, how to be stronger, and how to kill. Yes _**kill.**_There is no point in disguising the truth, though it may shock some. Especially a truth that is so common, despite what many say. However it really was not as bad as most would think, it was almost like a boarding school, we still learned normal things such as history, math, grammar, we just also had many classes that were supposed to desensitize us, to make us cold blooded killers, to teach us not to think when we pulled the trigger or struck the final, death blow. All for that bloody company _**Shinra**_. I loath and despise them, and not for what they put me through, I am glad for that because it gave me a chance to meet my other half, my best friend, Madeline. No, the hate isn't from what has happened to myself, it is from all those innocents killed, and the corruption of those not killed. I, to this day, still have yet to understand why exactly Shinra trained us, and to be killers nonetheless. Though their plan will back fire, we will stop them one day, assuming we get out of this mess first. I guess I should tell you about what our mess is now that I have had a chance to rant, and tell useless information about myself. Now where to start…………


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter One-Seeing HER**_

_**I guess I will start this tale by how Madeline and myself met, and eventually became friends. We met in year six of our so-called training, in which everyone may advance at a different speed, thus we where tested, for placement of our skills.**_ "Okay brats!! During this written exam there will be no talking what so ever! Understood? If you even so much as whisper to yourself you will be killed! You will also be killed for failing, or rather getting below a 90% on this test!!" screeched the ugly 'teacher' as looked around at my pathetic classmates. The looks of horror on their faces was simply ridiculous, I mean after six years of this type schooling you would expect them to be way past used to this sort of treatment. I was already used to the verbal abuse, the training that made us ruthless and cold. This was my life and I recognized that. I've always known this world is hard, and it has no time for those who don't aim themselves, don't make themselves aware and ready. This training may be brutal, but its effective and its results are legendary. Just the way Shrina planned. Almost all of the students' faces showed pure horror, at least until most of them quickly masked it, though there was one person who slightly caught my attention. It was another girl, one with long blonde hair and bright blue eye, who sat two seats over from myself. The reason she caught my attention wasn't simply because of her looks, but because she looked to almost have an air of innocence to her, and also she was sitting there biting her lip nervously. She didn't have that stupid look of terror that most people in this room seemed to have, even if it for just a split second, she did look worried though, as for why, I didn't know. As I got the test I looked down at it in, completely at ease, this was an incredibly easy test. The test was on certain types of poisons, which ones would kill quickly to which ones were odorless, quite simplistic if those idiots had simple read the textbook like they were supposed to have done. I have no patience for the willingly stupid, or those who expect the world to be handed to them. I finished quickly, and looked around the classroom at those sweating moronic fools, but yet again the girl managed to catch my attention. She didn't look worried anymore though, but as I looked closer I saw she had literally taped her mouth shut, I guess so that she wouldn't be able to speak at all, quite clever I suppose. As I looked closer at her I notice that she was also finished, yet no one else other then her and I were done. I also noticed that she was gazing around the room, observing those idiots, until her gaze fell curiously on to me. She stared at me for a few moments; I assume she was trying to figure out why I was watching her, before her curious stare quickly changed into a hostile glare. Though her eyes burned with fury, I just continued to stare blankly at her for a few more moments before turning around and leaning my head down on the desk and closing my eyes so I could rest and wait for the rest of those people to finish. As I started to doze off into a trance-like state of sleep, I heard the scream of one of the first to go, and heard the blood splatter and drip on the floor from where they had been stabbed…right through the heart…


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Two-Meeting HER**_

_**That test had been the first time I had ever seen HER, **__**my partner, my friend, and**__** my reason for living. Though it was the first time I had ever seen her, it was still a month until I actually talked to her, and had it been up to me I would have never even talked to her in the first place, but fate has a way of working her magic. **_I knew that there was a reason that I HATE my 'teacher' Miss Cat, and it's not simply because she is crazy. No, I hate her because not only is she assigning us a 'project' for SURVIVAL class that was worth 80% of our final grade, and she was making it a partner project. There is nobody worthwhile in these classes of mine, once they were out in the real world, fighting and working in SHINRA they would will quickly realize their meager skills and inability to think independently, not to just do as they're told, will earn them quick deaths. It's the sad truth; the only reason that they are at this worthless school is because their parents are Turks who want their kids to create a legacy, one that they could not create for themselves, unlike the _GREAT_ Sephiroth. He is so lame, everyone thinks he is _**so **_great, I don't believe that anyone can be that great and stay great though, and some day he will crack and turn on Shinra. I'm getting off topic though, back to this worthless 'project' I have, apparently we are going to be getting our partners in a minute, and we will be sent into the woods with nothing other then one weapon each, regardless of if we can use it or not, with turks roaming around the woods hunting us down, ready and willing to kill us, we only pass if we make it back to the building in a week, only seven days…

"…And the last pair is Sarah and…Madeline! You have two minutes to find your partner and to get in line to pick up the weapon you get! NOW!!" What a crazy $$ teacher I have. Now I just have to figure out which of these morons is Madeline.

"Excuse me…your Sarah, right?" asked a small, soft, calm voice. With an inaudible, annoyed sigh I turned around and said to the person,

"Yes I am, but why do you care, unless of course _**your**_ Madeline?" I asked with an emotionless face.

"Yeah I am, just…come on!" the girl replied as she dragged me into the line.

"Here. Your group gets a sword and a gun. Now go, off to the woods for you." The teacher said pushing us, the last group, out of the door, as we had gotten to the front of the line.

"Soooooooo… which weapon do you want? Do you know how to use either of them?" the girl asked me, with a hint of laughter in her voice, which I suppose I can understand, I mean I am a very petite girl with long hair, but that makes it more likely that my enemy will underestimate me.

"Yeah…I can use a sword and can slightly use a gun. The real question is if you can use one of these weapons?" I said mocking her; usually most people can't get under my skin this easily.

"Humph yes I know how to use a gun…that sword on the other hand…" she trailed off with an uneasy look on her face staring at the sword in my hands, though she wasn't afraid of it.

"Good then I'll take the sword, it's less likely to make a mistake than a gun." I stated almost letting a smirk show through. I'm actually starting to like this girl…well more than those completely useless classmates of mine.

"Hey I take offence to that, I'm very good with a gun, never have I even missed one target before." She told me very smugly; she even had a smirk on her face! Thinking that this will be a very long journey, together we started into the forest, the shadows cast by looming trees quickly swallowing the other teams. For a while neither of us said anything, we just walked in silence, or what would be silence if Madeline wasn't talking to herself. Even though that was something that would normally annoy me, I felt strangely at ease around this girl. I bit my lip, lost in thought. The last time I had felt this way was before my sister left.

"Hey," I heard Madeline say, "It's starting to get dark maybe we should stop here for the night?" Wow she actually said something that didn't annoy, or set off my tightly controlled emotions.

"Yeah this place looks fine. Don't make a campfire though; we don't want to make ourselves more noticeable than we already are. Agreed?" I said, not waiting a run in with any of the turks hunting for students, at least not this early in the game, or even this late at night either.

"Okay I understand that logic, but it doesn't make any sense to take turns standing guards does it, we don't want to be to weak, or run behind, do we? And I'm a pretty light sleeper so we woul---" I cut her off, I don't care if it was rude or not, but I **know **that I heard someone talking, likely a Turk.

"Stay quiet, I think that there is a Turk nearby." I told her, whispering cautiously as I peered out into the darkened woods, the still trees seeming like guardians, surrounding us in the night.

"So these are the last two students alive right? We can go burn down the school after this right? I really want to go burn something, lets make this quick." I heard a voice say as I slowly took my hand away from Madeline's mouth, I think I can trust her to stay quiet for now at least.

"Jeez, relax Pyro. After these two we can go burn the school, a whole town after that if you'd like. Besides how hard can it be to fight two little girl, and they should be right around here, at least according to the tracker in their weapons." I heard another voice, reply presumably the first voice's partner.

"Get ready for a fight." I whispered to Madeline barely audibly. Her only reply was to shake her head quietly up and down to signify she was ready. At least I didn't get a complete idiot for a partner this time. We silently crept over to where the two men were, weapons out, preparing for a surprise attack. Only the men weren't the ones who ended up surprised, unfortunately.

"Well, well, well…looks like there were smart people at that place after all…too bad they weren't smart enough." Said one of the voices from before. As he said this I barely had time to act quickly enough to move my sword in front of me to slice the bullet heading straight at me, and then move away from the minor explosion as the bullet burst apart. I quickly looked to see if Madeline was still alive from their attack, I saw that she had blocked the other mans sword with her gun, let's hope that the metal on the gun is strong and doesn't break. "Hey Madeline, switch?" I asked referring to the fact that it would be hard for me to fight the man using a gun with a sword, and it would be even harder for her to fight a sword with her gun. A gun doesn't offer as much protection, at least in my own opinion. "Sure, sounds like a blast!!" she said quickly aiming, and shooting, a bullet at the swordsman to hopefully distract him long enough for us to switch opponents. Even after switching opponents this will still be a tough battle, after all these guys are trained turks, which is only a step or two down from being in SOLDIER. The man with the sword came running after me. I guess he and his partner don't really care which of us they fight after all, or they are just underestimating us, its happened to me many times before. As he came toward me, I brought me sword up to block his own sword and I shot out my leg at him, while still keeping my balance perfectly, as to knock him down, or at least distract him long enough to get his sword out of his hand. I didn't count on his strength, as he not only managed to catch my leg, he also kept his sword in the exact same position. No movement what so ever. I am so screwed. The man then made use of even more of his strength to push me back, where I ended up back to back with Madeline…I glanced at Madeline, and saw in her bright blue eyes the same idea that I had, it might not kill him, it might not even injure him, but its our best bet, hopefully it will work long enough to get away, or make them retreat. So I gave her a slight nod and shot forward toward the man, again, with a better plan in mind. As I expected he brought his word up to stop my attack, but what he didn't expect was for me to suddenly turn my sword and push down on it, right into the hole in his own sword, making it stick in the ground. While I was distracting him making sure he couldn't defend himself very well Madeline turn and quickly fired the gun, and the man didn't notice it coming our way until I moved out of the way at the last second, leaving the bullet to hit him somewhere right above where his heart was…he had moved enough to make it a non-fatal wound. I then quickly grabbed my sword from out of his, and ran over to where Madeline was. She then shot a bullet at the ground to bring up a lot of dust, which practically blinded the two men, temporarily at least. Then we ran…hoping that they would be too injured and uninterested enough to follow us. After all we were just two unimportant girls that got away, right? _**It wouldn't be for another three years until I would realize how wrong I was…**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Three**_

_**We happened to have been very lucky. Whether they didn't come after us because the man had been injured, or some other unexplained reason, we had been very lucky. As it turned out Madeline's home village wasn't that far from where we where in the forest, she thought that we would be able to get help from her family there. I figured that I would just go, help her get there, get myself a new sword, and then leave. It turns out that I was wrong in thinking that to…**_

"Well…home sweet home…this is my home village, _______." Madeline told me, a slightly worried grin on her face, I wondered why she would be upset, she's home now, though it really isn't any of my business.

"Great. Where's the nearest weapon shop? I should get a new sword before I leave." I asked her no tone in my voice. She looked at me like I was crazy, before crying out,

"WHAT?! You really can't be thinking of leaving! You just got here, besides those two men will be after you, it really wouldn't be a good idea to travel alone. Even if you do go, at least wait until morning." She told me, forcing herself to calm down as she said the words.

"Hmm, I guess I can wait until the morning, but after that I'm going to get a weapon and leave. Lead the way…I guess." I replied, agreeing that it probably be best to wait until morning, as to have more daylight to travel in, I would have to stop in a few hours anyways. I also needed to figure out where exactly I was going to go, its not like I really wanted to go home, if I could help it that is. The next morning I found out why Madeline uses a gun, I could see now why she would have to. This town seems to specialize in guns, and their swords are severely lacking. I suppose for now I'll just have to settle on a cheap sword, and a gun. However, I have never liked guns, they are too messy, and unpredictable, much harder to control. As soon as I bought the weapons I started feeling restless, I wanted to move on. I made my decision to leave now, disregarding Madeline's advice. I really should say something to her…Wait…why am I feeling guilty I've done this many times before to people and never felt bad about it, so why should this time be any different? For some bizarre reason I feel connected to this girl, I have no idea why though, I mean she gets on my nerves… a lot. I suppose its for the best that I didn't say anything, if I feel this bad about it then I might not be able to bring myself to leave this village. Why should I feel this attached to a girl I just met? Just then, as I was about to leave the village, the sounds of a large object hurtling through the air behind me reached my ears. I quickly moved out of the way, just as I heard the sound of a blade striking into the wood right next to my head. I turned from the sword jutting out from the tree and looked up to see one person I really didn't want to see… not anytime soon anyways…it was Madeline, with a angry glare set on her face.

"You left in such a hurry, without saying goodbye, that wasn't able to give you that sword." She said angrily, her lips drawn up tightly in a scowl, her blue eyes thunderous. I glanced at the sword sunken into the wood, its blade cut clean through several layers of aged bark. Why does she have a sword though?

"I thought you said that you didn't know how to use a sword." I said with a curious, questioning tone to my normally emotionless voice.

"I don't." was the plain reply she gave, still glaring at me, which made me slightly uncomfortable, I'm not sure why though.

"Then why do you have a sword if you don't even know how to use it?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"If you must know, it was my brother's." She told me, now staring intently at the ground. Opps my bad, I really should know better by now. Oh well, I guess I have two choices. I could leave and not touch the sword; or I could take the sword and stay with her, in her village. I suppose that I also could just take the sword and leave, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do that, so I simply erased it from my mind. From within my head a voice whispered: I thought Shinra had managed to make me uncaring, well that and my sister…looks like my ruthless armor has cracks after all that this strange girl managed to break, they have failed to erase all the humanity from me. The sword is amazing though…I turned and removed the sword from the tree, heaving a huge sigh,

"I guess you get your wish princess, I'll stay. And here, have this." I said flippantly, trying to mask the emotion I had just felt, tossing her the gun that I ALWAYS have with me. "It was my sister's, but seeing as how you gave me something special of yours, and how I highly dislike using guns, you can have it. You will put to much better use than I do." I told her slinging the sword on my back and turning away from her, and starting to walk back to her parent's house. But the next thing I knew she had flung her arms around me…I think she might have even had tears in her eyes.

"T-thank you." She quietly said to me, her voice nearly breaking.

"It's no problem, lets just go back to the house now." I told her, letting the ghost of a smile graze my lips. It seems we are all broken in our own way. Just as she had found a way to shatter my walls, I had done the same. She nodded releasing me from her grip, taking my hand and dragging me back to the house, a huge grin on her face the entire time. I think that this is the beginning of a friendship. I now know that I will never be able to leave this broken girl's side…. I think I have found the part of me that has been missing all these years...I've finally found my other half.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 4**_

_**That was how we became friends in the first place. We slowly became better, and better friends. Though I was friends with Madeline, I was still the cold almost emotionless girl that Madeline had met. She was the only one who was able to read me…like an open children's book. Unfortunately things don't always stay the same, we stayed at her village for three years before anything big happened. The most that we did in those three years was training, and catching any bounties in the area, we never wandered too far from her village, for good reason apparently… **_This guy is really irritating, not only is he hiding well, he also managed to get away from us after we initially found him. Normally we wouldn't even try to come out this far, at least not for a simple bounty. This guy does have a really good bounty on his head though, more than our normal bounties have at least. We also have never had anyone escape from us before, and I doubt that our egos would take a hit like that as this guy is very weak he is just incredibly good runner. Oh…I think we just found him. Him and his little posse…they really don't look to tough though, I wonder how he got a bounty like the one he has from simply running and hiding. Both Mads and I had gotten rid of his minions rather quickly, and had him even quicker, but because of the stupid idiot, and the time we wasted looking for him, we had to stop for the night. Which really bothers me, that little town had slowly become my home over the three years I spent in it, and I hate being away from it for to long, I have already lost enough things precious to me. That is the reason why, although Mads is strong and can take care of herself, I can never have her out of my sight for more then an hour at a time, other then when I am asleep though.

"Sorry Sarah…" Mads said to me, worry written all over her face. Why though, she hasn't done anything bad, would she apologize?

"Why exactly are you apologizing to me? You have no reason to want to apologize to me." I asked her, with my confusion just barely slipping through in my voice.

"I am apologizing because I now that you hate to be away from the village for this long and if I hadn't have messed up we would have been back much sooner." She explained to me, her self-anger seeping into her voice. She worries about me way too much, she needs to stop being mad at herself, and realize that things can happen.

"Hmm you're sorry about something like that? It wasn't even your fault, so stop beating yourself up about it, things happen that you can't always control. Okay? So stop worrying about me and get some rest, okay? We want to get back early tomorrow so we can go get another bounty." I told her concern showing in my voice, which most people wouldn't even hear, most people other than Madeline. If it wasn't for her then I would have no real reason to fight, I would have ended up being a puppet for Shinra. She is my reason for living…was the last thought I had before falling into a light sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 5**_

The next morning we went back to the village...or what used to be the village. The village looked like it had been burned to the ground, why would this have happened…how could it have happened? We were only gone for one night…ONE!! I glanced over to Madeline, the poor girl, it was times like this that I wished I was able to let down my barriers completely for her, be there completely for her, to comfort her, but I can't. I will probably never be able to do that for her, that is one of my biggest regrets in my life. I hugged her, letting her cry, wail, even scream for the loss of her home, and her family. I thought I might have just heard something move, but that would be impossible. I don't want to turn to look because if I do then Mads might get back the useless hope that even one person is somehow alive, which is something I think is worse then what she is going through. I also don't want to turn around because then I can't focus on comforting Madeline, it's taking everything I have just to stand here quietly not saying a word.

"Well look at what we have here." I heard a voice say from behind me somewhere as I tensed. This can't be good I really doubt that Mads will be able to fight anyone, not today at the very least. I also don't want to leave her alone, and if there's more then one person I won't be able to fight very well myself, as emotionless as I appear this has taken a hard blow to my heart.

"Yeah. Looks like we finally got the right place, Sora." Said a second person with a familiar voice, I guess a partner to the man with the first voice. We are screwed…so screwed. I reluctantly released Madeline, and slowly turned around, hearing Madeline trying to stop crying. When I finished turning around, I let my eyes leave Mads's crumpled form to look at what I assumed was two men. As I looked at the two men I could feel my eyes widen in shock, and I couldn't mask this emotion no matter how hard I tried. It was them. I thought they gave up three years ago, I thought that we didn't matter; I guess this was another thing that I was wrong about. I let my red eyes slide into a glare at the two men in front of me.

"What are you two doing here? Leave!" I spat, not once caring that I was letting my emotions slip in front of people other then Madeline. They were the ones that caused her to be in this pain, I have to protect her; I have to kill these evil men, even if it's the last thing I do. At the moment I didn't even care that they killed the village, but they hurt Mads, they WILL pay!

"Oh I think you know what we are here for, just look around you. If you had just given in then this village would still be standing." Sora said trying to distract us further then we already are. I glanced behind me to look at Mads, expecting her to look worse, only to see her not only standing but glaring at the two men in front of us, and holding her gun directly at Sora's partner. This girl is just full of surprises.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 6**_

We got lucky…very lucky. Though I am starting to wonder how long this selective luck of ours will last. If not for the bullet Pyro shot that strayed off course and hit his partner Sora, then both Mads and I would be dead at this very moment…but we are very much alive, with only a few injuries. Some of those injuries being minor, while others not are far from fatal. At this moment there are three things that we knew with certainty. The first was that we need to properly fix the bullet wound that Mads received on her right shoulder, and I suppose that we also should fix the gash I received on my stomach, but that's not as much of a priority for me. Secondly that we needed to find a town, or village in order to accomplish our first task of mending Mads's nearly fatal wound, and my cut. Then, lastly that we needed to find out more about those two Turks, before we should even attempt to avenge the loss of our home and its people. When combined, these three absolute facts leads to the conclusion that we need to go to Midgar…that we need to go directly to the Shinra building. However, before we head to the Shrina building we must to find a town, however yet again the Turks were proving capable to ruin our luck. Thus far the last three towns we had found were burned to the ground; their smoldering ruins the only testament that the Turks had passed through before us. I assume that they burned these towns when they were still looking for us…that or they just wanted to make it so we couldn't heal our wounds if by chance we got away again. We finally found a village called Nibelheim. The people in this village seem nice…I suppose, not that it really matters.

"Madeline" I spoke, barely above a whisper, "we shouldn't stay here for more then a day or two." My voice was clam, but my thoughts were filled of this village being burned to the ground, its people slaughtered…. just like the last three…all because of us.

"Yeah…you're right," Mads replied, her sorrow and regret showing through her voice, "lets just go find a store, and get some supplies."

"That sounds good, though after that we should probably find an inn for tonight." I told Madeline, thankful that we still had some of our bounty money on us. We then found a store and got very few supplies, making sure to keep enough money to stay somewhere tonight, we also managed to find a small inn to stay the night in. After we got to our room for the night we bandaged our wounds, and I found myself thinking about how difficult, and how much of an adventure our trip to Midgar will be…a thought that stayed in my mind as I finally drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 7**_

After a long, tiring journey, of fighting monster after monster, we finally reached Midgar. Even though our journey helped us to train, to get a little bit stronger, it still was exhausting. Now we just need to find the Shinra building…which I assume, is the ridiculously large structure that stands directly in the middle of the city. Our next task is to get into the building undetected, and steal some of the files, that Shinra is bound to possess, on the two Turks: Sora and Pyro. One issue, out of many, that we might run into inside this building is the fact that they might not have been using their real names, which would make it that much harder to find information on them.

"Madeline, I think that I see a computer over there. We should go check it out, maybe we will find information on it." I stated, only loud enough for Madeline to understand what I was saying, without an echo rebounding through these long metal corridors of the Shinra building.

"Okay, I'll start hacking in now." Madeline told me, just as quiet as I had been. Madeline is definitely the better hacker out of the two of us, which would be why she is the one hacking into the Shinra computer, and not myself. Seeing how Madeline is the person hacking, I decided it would be a good idea to stay on guard to make sure no one could, or would sneak up on us. That turned out to be a good decision, because as soon as I turned my back to check on Madeline's progress, I heard a person moving behind me. I turned around, pulling my sword out, only for my sword to clash against another piece of metal; more specifically against the Turk, Sora's, sword. Even though I was intent on fighting, and beating Sora, I heard a loud noise hitting the floor, sounding almost like a body hitting the floor, which made me turn around as to make sure Madeline was okay. I guess all those years of training did nothing for me, seeing as I forgot the most basic rule of all, 'never turn your back on an enemy'. I felt the hilt of Sora's sword hit my neck, as I was falling toward the ground I heard one of the voices saying something, though I couldn't tell which voice it was.

"See Sora!! I told you they would come here first. You should learn to listen to me more." So it had just been a trap in the end, I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for it. I could hear the two men arguing talking as my mind finally went completely blank.


	9. Chapter 9

**Bold=flashbacks (each flash back is at a different time period)**

**_Chapter 8_**

Today would be the day, some how I just knew it would be. Today would be the day that we finally would escape from Shinra, after six long years of experiments, hardly seeing Madeline, and fighting. Hope fluttered within me, waiting to be unleashed. It sang in my heart after six long years of laying silent.

**Oh man, what happened? My head feels like a bullet was slowly being forced into my skull…wait where am I exactly? I don't see Madeline anywhere either, I thought with a frown on my face. At least my head is starting to stop hurting slightly, enough for me to think clearer. This room looks almost like…like a lab, or at least what I would imagine a lab to look like, but that still doesn't answer my questions. I then realized, with my head pounding loudly inside my skull, that I was chained down to a table by metal cuffs, and that my sword was now where in sight. These realizations made the frown on my face grow deeper, and made my eyes blaze up as I recalled what happened before I was knocked out…Those Turks of ours had knocked Madeline and me out, and I assume brought us to where ever I was now. I am surprised that they didn't kill us on the spot when they had the chance, though I suppose if they wanted to trick us into coming here, they want us for something. This assumption is of course made on the hope that Madeline is still alive. Out of natural instinct, I tried to turn my head when I heard noises in the room…noises that sounded like a person walking in. I also reached for my sword but of course, since I didn't even have it anymore, I came up with nothing. Though when I looked up I saw a man with glasses and long black air tied back into a ponytail, wearing a doctor's coat…this could not be a good sign for me. **

** "Who are you, and why am I here?" I asked the man coldly, glaring intensely at him.**

** "I am Doctor Hojo." Well that was blunt, though he didn't completely answer my question; I guess I'll try asking again.**

** "You only answered half of my question." I told the man, Hojo, all while sending him a vicious glare. He still didn't answer me, as he turned around to grab a vile of something and a needle, which he then slowly injected into my body, as I struggled to move, to get free of these chains. **

That something he injected into my body happened to have been a sedative of some sort, to knock me out while he conducted those experiments of his. He injected me multiple times; I suppose I was lucky to be out during those experiments. I was sustained with some type of tubing, I assume with nutrition, since I never ate. Once the man I knew as Hojo finished with the experimentation, I was permitted to start moving around, though that came with a price, the reason that I could not escape from this place.

**I finally woke up, without being put immediately back to sleep. Though this time I felt different then the other times I had woken up. First off my whole body ached, and felt heavy and sluggish; second my eyes felt as if they were on fire. Neither of these things made very much sense to me, but I guessed that the doctor did something, experiments on me; it would explain why I felt that way and why I wasn't allowed to be awake. I hear movement and turned, rather slowly I noted, to see what it was, but as I moved my eyes felt like they were going to explode, from just a little amount of light. I quickly flinched away from the source of pain, only to hear chuckling, from that insane doctor.**

** "I see you're going to need time to adjust after all, but I suppose you still turned out better than the last one did." I gave the man a questioning look. Had he done this before, then? I silently questioned myself in my head. Wait, how am I supposed to be able to go into the sunlight, the daytime, when I can't even look at the smallest traces of lighting? **

** "From the look on your face I assume your wondering how your going to go into the light, well your going to be slowly training with that Turk…Sora, I believe." The so-called doctor told me while laughing quite evilly. I guess that answered my question, but I really don't want to train with _him _though I suppose I have no choice in the matter, so for now I'll have to settle on glaring at him. **

It was soon after waking up that I started my training with Sora.

**This was the most intense training I have ever had in my entire life. This training was to improve my speed as the 'doctor' had apparently made my bones as hard as metal. The fact that my bones were reinforced with steel certainly slowed down my speed and my reaction rate. So now I have to train extra hard to bring my speed back up, or past, where it was before. Another reason that I have to train is that my eyes have been experimented with, making them ten times better, but also much more sensitive to light. I had to slowly, and painfully, work to adjust my eyes to the light, to make them tolerant of the presence of light. Not only do I have better vision, but also my eyes are now able to take pictures, and store information in my head, similar to how a computer works. I realized then that this training was going to take a very long time to finish, and that I will not be allowed to see Madeline very much, but I also realized that it is necessary to accomplish this training if I wish to live once I am able to escape. The experimentation had served perfectly to many of Shrina's purposes: crippling me so greatly that escape meant death outside this darkened lab, that I would have to work with Shinra for my life. I could choose to attempt to escape, but that would be choosing death. And as long as Madeline still lived, I knew I had to live as well, to make it through this for her if for nothing else. Shrina took my freedom, but I would not let it take our lives. This was going to be the longest time of my life…being away from Madeline… my light. **

After I stared my training with Sora, I also started to make deals with him, such as if I could land a scratch on him he would let me see Madeline, he actually kept all of our deals so far.

**After training for two months, I finally was able to place a scratch on the man, on Sora. As surprised as I am he actually kept our deal of letting me see Madeline. I hoped that she was doing okay, my thoughts were constantly swirling around her, and now I finally got to see her. Immediately I noticed that her long flowing hair had been cut to about the same length mine was, and that she look more exhausted then I did. Though I suppose she would be working on her speed more than I had been, since she has to be able to dodge the bullets. **

** "Sarah!" Madeline exclaimed with a somewhat hoarse voice. I hope this doesn't mean that 'Pyro' hasn't been taking care of her; I thought to myself with a small, almost unnoticeable, frown on my face.**

** "Are you okay? _He _has been taking care of you, right?" I asked her, letting my concern show through; something that only happens around Madeline. **

** "Yeah he has…the training is brutal though." Madeline told me with her face in a frown. For some reason I can't stand to see her frown, there are very few things that I want at the moment, but I wish I never had to see her frown. I just hoped that behind that sadness was the Madeline I had known, the Madeline who would never let this ordeal break her spirit, just as I was trying not to let it break mine. **

** "Sorry to ruin your moment, but your times up." I heard Sora say, making me turn to him and glare directly at him.**

** "You do know that you only got a single scratch on him, right? That means that you would only have a limited visiting time." Pyro told me, mocking me. I turned my cold glare onto him, before turning to Madeline. I gave her a small smile, and hugged her, something very unusual for me to do, even for Madeline. **

** "Good bye Mads…I'll make sure to see you as soon as possible." I whispered into her ear as I was hugging her, not wanting to leave her side for even a second.**

** "Bye Sarah…I'll miss you." She whispered back to me, before we were separated from each other, dreading the time we would spend apart from each other. I prayed I could see her soon, if I don't I think I just might go insane.**

I recently made another deal with him; this one is the most important to me out of all of our deals.

**As much as I hate this man, I have to thank him, he lets me see Madeline, if it weren't for him I believe I would have gone crazy by now. I guess I have to try for a more long-term deal if I ever want to escape this place, with Madeline. **

** "Sora? I have another deal I would like to make with you." I told him staring at him with a straight face. **

** "Okay then…shoot away." He told me with his right eyebrow slightly raised, as if interested by my comment.**

** "If I ever manage to beat you in a fight…a fair fight, to the point where I could kill you, you have to agree to let Madeline and I leave this building…for good." I told him looking directly into his amber eyes.**

** "Hmm…alright, you've got a deal." He calmly said, with his eyebrow still slight cocked, a cocky grin on his face, and an amused glint in his eyes. It seems he doesn't believe that I will ever beat him; I guess I will show him in the end. **

We made that deal two years ago…two years after I started my training, four years after I had arrived here, six years in total that I have been here. I know I will beat him today, I have no clue if I still have the will to kill him, but even if I do, I doubt I will be killing him today, its just a feeling I have. Though if there is anything I have learned in this lifetime, it's that instinct and feeling are right nine out of ten times. Now it is time for my last fight in this Shinra building, with Sora, to take place.


End file.
